"Unfortunately for you, jackass, Jasper needs me so sorry but I can't exactly die today," I hissed, shoving him away from me.

"I told you, whatever the hell you want."

"Oh, just fuck off, would you?"

Charlotte was looking between the two of us. I moved away from the both of them and sunk down to my knees, wrapping my arms around myself.

And to think I have to spend the rest of the night with that fucker. I mean, who does he think he is? You can't just come down here, claim yourself as a leader, treat everyone like shit and then expect them to follow you with no complaints, no, not here, not on Earth.

The hours seemed to crawl by. It was like watching someone cut grass one blade at a time. I could barely stand it. I would have left, but with the acid fog, I couldn't exactly go for a leisurely stroll.

Behind me, I could could hear Bellamy and Charlotte as they made conversations every so often. I just rolled my eyes and clutched my hands tighter to my body. It was starting to get cold.

Eventually I could feel myself getting tired. My eyes started to droop and my head began to loll. A few minutes later, I was asleep.

~~~~

"No!"

I opened my tired eyes. What was going on?

"No, no please!"

I darted up, looking around to see what was wrong. Charlotte, in the corner, sat up and placed her hand on the wall, stabilising herself. I rushed to her.

"Charlotte, whats wrong?" I asked, placing my hand on her shoulder. She was shaking slightly. I stepped over Bellamy's sleeping form and sat next to her.

"How often?" I asked quietly.

"Almost every night. Its just, my parents, they were floated and I see them in my dreams and I wake up and its still all I see," she cried out. I nodded, rubbing her shoulder.

"You know, my parents were floated too. I know what it feels like," I told her. She looked up at me, sniffling.

"Does the pain ever go away?" She asked, eyes wide. I sighed, looking over at Bellamy. His eyes were closed but I could tell that he was awake.

"Not entirely. One day, you'll wake up and it will hurt a little less. It will always be painful but you learn to live with it. You learn to remember the good memories of them and not the bad," I gave her a small smile.

Bellamy's chest moved and I watched as he sat up, giving me a lingering glance before looking to Charlotte.

"Whats going on?"

"Charlotte had a nightmare," I responded through gritted teeth. I was still annoyed at him but for Charlotte's sake, I would try to keep my calm. For now, at least.

"What are you scared of?" He asked. Then, he shook his head. "You know what? It doesn't matter."

"What matters," he started after seeing my angered expression. "Is what you do about it."

Charlotte's brow knitted.

"I can't do anything, I'm asleep," she said, shivering slightly.

"Fears are fears," he responded, soft smile gracing his lips. "Slay your demons while you're awake, and they won't be there to get you while you sleep."

I watched him as he softly consoled the scared girl. He was so considerate, so gentle, so unlike Bellamy that it was almost scary. I caught myself smiling at him and I internally slapped myself. You're angry at him. He's an asshole.

Bellamy then patted her leg. "Show me that knife I gave you," he said, holding his hand out. She dug around in her shirt pocket and pulled it out.

"Now," he smiled. "When you're scared, I want you to hold this knife and I want you to say "screw you, I'm not afraid.""

He handed her the knife back. "Now you try."

"Screw you, I'm not afraid," she repeated softly, looking up at him. He cocked his head in a way that said come-on-you-know-you-can-do-better-than-that. She looked back at the knife and then to Bellamy.

"Screw you, I'm not afraid," she said again, this time with conviction. He smiled, patted her knee and then lay back down again.

"Slay your demons, kid. Then you'll be able to sleep."

I smiled at her before standing up again, moving back to the place I had been sitting before, hoping to get at least a few hours more sleep.

Of course, I didn't get any. I spent the rest of the night thinking about a whole bunch of things. I thought about Jasper, I thought about Clarke, Finn and Wells and how they had left earlier in the day to get some things for Jasper and I really hoped they had made it back before the fog had appeared... but mainly I thought about my parents. I'd spent so long repressing the memories, the feelings that were associated with them and now the wall that I had created was crumbling in front of me, the feelings returning and the memories flooding to the surface.

By morning, I could feel the fatigue settling in my skin. Bellamy and Charlotte had both managed to get a little sleep in so it had become very quiet very quickly. In some ways that was good but in others it wasn't. The only noises had been the crackling of the electric acid fog outside and the faint snoring from Bellamy.

Once light started to trail into the dark tunnel, I quietly moved to the mouth of the cave. Cautiously, I looked outside, looking for the fog. I couldn't see anything so I moved further out.

"Alex, what are you doing?" I heard Bellamy ask.

"I'm seeing if the fog is gone," I answered, looking down the hill. I didn't see anything.

"I think its safe," I said after a moment.

Bellamy and Charlotte appeared out of the cave as well, looking around. It was almost as if the acidic fog had never even been there. It was almost surreal.

"Anybody out here?!" Bellamy yelled. I looked back at him. Damnit Bellamy, there could be Grounders out here.

"We're over here!" A voice yelled back.

"Jones," Bellamy whispered before hurrying in the direction of the voice. Charlotte and I hurried after him.

Just over the ridge, we saw Jones and a couple of the others walking towards us. Where was everyone else?

"Where did you guys go?" One of them asked Bellamy.

"In some caves back there. Where's Atom?" He answered.

I looked at their faces. They looked worried. Wait, wasn't Atom with them when the fog hit?

"We, uh, we don't know. We lost him in whatever the hell that stuff was," Jones said, looking at the floor quickly before looking back up again. Bellamy's face dropped.

"Well, lets go! Come on, we have to find him," I hissed at the group, feeling fear prickle my skin. They nodded and Jones and Monroe went one way, Bellamy went another and Charlotte and I went another.

"Which way should we go?" I asked her. She bit her lip.

"Maybe that way?" She suggested, pointing behind me. I nodded.

"All right, lets go," I said with a grim smile. We started walking, looking around carefully for any sign of Atom.

"Ahh!"

I whipped around and looked at Charlotte. Jesus Christ, that was loud.

"Are you alright?!" I fussed, stepping over to her quickly. She didn't respond. I noticed she was staring at something off in the trees to our left and I followed her gaze and almost screamed myself. Laying on the ground was Atom. Although he didn't really look like Atom anymore.

He was covered in angry boils, blood staining his clothes. His breath was constantly hitching and I could see that his eyes were a cloudy white. What the hell happened? Was it the fog? It had to be.

"Stay here," I hissed at Charlotte. She nodded and I stepped forward, moving cautiously towards Atom.

"Atom?" I called out softly. "It's me. It's Alex," I said with a honey-sweet voice. He grunted and moved his head slightly to the sound of my voice. I dropped to my knees beside him.

"I'm going to take care of you, all right? Everything's going to be okay," I shushed his pained groans. Suddenly there was a loud crashing and Bellamy all but fell into the clearing.

"Son of a bitch," he hissed, dropping down beside me.

"I don't- I," I stuttered, looking up at him with my mouth open. Bellamy's brow furrowed and he leant forward slightly.

"Kill me."

"K-k-kill me."

I looked at Atom in horror.

"No, we're going to get you help, okay?" I assured him, running my hand over his hair in what was hopefully a comforting way.

"Kill me-e," he replied in a whisper. I felt tears prick my eyes.

Bellamy stood up slowly, hand on his hatchet. No, he couldn't. Charlotte stepped forward and stood in front of his feet, a rock-hard gaze on her face.

"I can't-can't breath," Atom gasped before coughing. I watched as Charlotte moved her hand to her pocket and pulled out the knife Bellamy gave her. She pressed it into Bellamy's hands and he gripped it tightly, giving her a strange look.

"Don't be afraid," she whispered. His jaw clenched.

"Go back to camp," he said. I looked over to see that the others had joined us. When had they arrived?

"You, too, Charlotte," Bellamy said to the girl. She gave him one last look before walking away through the trees.

"Alex, you don't need to see this," he said, glancing at me quickly before looking down at Atom.

"And you don't need to do this alone," I said softly, stepping forward and grasping the hand holding the knife. "This isn't a burden you should have to bear alone."

Surprisingly, he didn't rip his hand away. Instead, he looked up and into my eyes. In his eyes I could see something that I hadn't seen before. Vulnerability. He gave a short curt nod and leant down. I followed him and took a deep breath.

"Kill me," Atom gasped. He repeated it like a mantra.

I saw something out of the corner of my eye and I saw Clarke standing at the edge of the clearing, brow furrowed and mouth open at the scene in front of her. She stepped forward and knelt down beside Bellamy.

"I heard screams," she said, taking a look at Atom's deathly form.

"It was Charlotte. She found him," I answered her regretfully.

"I sent her back to camp," Bellamy said, swallowing thickly.

Clarke looked over Atoms's form once again and shook her head sadly at Bellamy. There was nothing she could do. He was going to die either way. I bit back a cry.

"Okay, I'm going to help you, alright?" Clarke smiled at Atom, moving her hand to his hair. She started to hum a soft tune. With her other hand she reached for Bellamy's and took the knife from his hand. He looked from her to Atom.

Still humming, she drove the blade into his neck. He gasped in pain before the blood started to seep out and onto the ground. She still hummed as the life left him and I looked at Bellamy. I could see the tears pricking his eyes and that's when I knew that he wasn't the man he made himself out to be. And I knew that I'd like the real Bellamy more than the one he put on every day for show.

Updated on the 11th of March, 2016.